Theft of flowers at church 'heartbreaking'

Police are trying to find out who stole rose bushes and petunias from Maplewood Presbyterian Church in Edmonds.

EDMONDS -- Thieves have been hitting Maplewood Presbyterian Church in Edmonds in recent weeks, taking off with the church's rose bushes and petunia plants."They dig them out and just leave the holes. They take everything," said Fran Steffen, a church deacon who works in the garden every week.Steffen estimates roughly a dozen petunia plants and four good-sized rose bushes have been stolen in the past two weeks. The church along 84th Avenue W. has a video surveillance system, but the cameras didn't catch the thefts, she said.Edmonds police are investigating, Sgt. Mark Marsh said Tuesday.Some of the stolen rose bushes were planted to remember church members who've died, Steffen said."It's pretty heartbreaking," she said. "I know there's a lot of people in the church who are upset that someone would come along and dig them up like that."The church garden is maintained by volunteers, she said. They're considering moving the memorial rose garden to face the street to discourage any more thefts."I don't want to plant anymore if they keep taking them," she said.Anyone interested in donating rose bushes to the church can call 425-778-5248.Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com

Share your comments: Log in using your HeraldNet account or your Facebook, Twitter or Disqus profile. Comments that violate the rules are subject to removal. Please see our terms of use. Please note that you must verify your email address for your comments to appear.